1. United States
2. Calif.
3. Letter

The recent activities of U.S.  Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Minneapolis have been horrific -  an escalation of an already socially and legally questionable series of law enforcement actions. As in other communities across the country, masked ICE officers have terrorized law-abiding people, ruptured tight-knit communities, broken happy families, and stolen innocent lives.    The presence of ICE in our communities has also trampled on our individual and collective civil rights, ensuring regular violations of our fundamental rights to due process, to privacy, to protest, and to humane treatment—rights that are afforded to everyone who steps foot on American soil. A sharp increase in racial and ethnic profiling, based on the language that one speaks or the color of one’s skin, has accompanied ICE activities.    All of this has occurred, ironically, in the name of making our communities safer.      With gratitude, empathy, and love, we stand in solidarity with the people of Minneapolis. We condemn the tactics of federal officers who continue to interfere with our rights and who unnecessarily take our lives.    We must see a return to policies and practices that seek to ensure that all who live, work, and visit the United States are free from violence in all its forms and wherever it occurs. We must ensure that anyone subject to harassment or violence based on race, ethnicity, gender, and nationality must have full protection and recourse under the law.   Accordingly, we demand action. You must rein in  these violations. We demand that you, our representatives, protect our civil and constitutional rights, which are being regularly infringed upon by ICE officers.